CCBot is the web crawler of Common Crawl, a non-profit that maintains an open repository of web crawl data. The archive is available at no cost to researchers, companies and individuals. The robots.txt token is CCBot.
At a glance
- Operator
- Common Crawl (non-profit)
- Purpose
- open web archive
- robots.txt token
CCBot- Respects robots.txt
- yes, including Crawl-delay
- IP list
- yes (JSON)
Last checked:
What is CCBot for?
Common Crawl describes itself as a 501(c)(3) non-profit that provides a copy of the internet for research and analysis. Because the data is freely available, other projects can use the archive without crawling the web themselves. According to reports, the name therefore comes up in discussions about AI training, although Common Crawl is not an AI provider itself.
According to Common Crawl, the user agent is CCBot/2.0 (https://commoncrawl.org/faq/).
| Bot | Operator | Purpose | robots.txt token | robots.txt according to the operator | IP list published? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google-Extended | Controls Gemini training and grounding (no crawler of its own) | Google-Extended | robots.txt token only; fetching is done by existing Google crawlers | n/a (no user agent of its own) | |
| GPTBot | OpenAI | Training | GPTBot | Disallowing it signals content should not be used to train foundation models | yes (openai.) |
| OAI-SearchBot | OpenAI | Search (ChatGPT) | OAI-SearchBot | opted-out sites are not shown in ChatGPT search answers | yes (openai.) |
| ChatGPT-User | OpenAI | User-triggered fetch | ChatGPT-User | robots.txt rules may not apply, says OpenAI (user-initiated) | yes (openai.) |
| ClaudeBot | Anthropic | Training | ClaudeBot | yes, Anthropic says its bots honor robots.txt | yes (claude.) |
| Claude-SearchBot | Anthropic | Search (Claude) | Claude-SearchBot | yes, Anthropic says its bots honor robots.txt | yes (claude.) |
| PerplexityBot | Perplexity | Search (Perplexity), not used for model training | PerplexityBot | controllable via robots.txt; the docs contain no explicit compliance statement | yes (perplexity.) |
| Applebot-Extended | Apple | Controls AI training (does not crawl, says Apple) | Applebot-Extended | robots.txt token only, applies to content Applebot already crawled | n/a (no crawler of its own) |
| CCBot (this term) | Common Crawl | Open web crawl archive | CCBot | can be blocked via robots.txt, says Common Crawl | yes (index.) |
| Meta-ExternalAgent | Meta | Training foundation AI models, improving products | meta-externalagent | can be blocked via robots.txt, says Meta | not stated by the operator |
A selection of ten AI bots from major operators, not a complete list. All values come from each operator's own documentation (as of 8 October 2026). The table does not show whether a bot actually complies with robots.txt; it only reflects what operators state. User agents can be spoofed; published IP lists or reverse DNS identify genuine requests. Sources: OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI Crawlers; Anthropic: Does Anthropic crawl data from the web, and how can site owners block the crawler? (updated 2026-04-07); Perplexity: Perplexity Crawlers; Google: Google's common crawlers (last updated 2026-07-14); Google: Overview of Google crawlers and fetchers (last updated 2026-06-12); Google: Verifying Google crawlers and fetchers (IP range files); Apple: About Applebot (2026-09-04); Meta: Meta Web Crawlers; Common Crawl: CCBot. Last checked: .
How do you control CCBot?
CCBot obeys robots.txt. The FAQ states that it also follows the Crawl-delay parameter. Common Crawl publishes its IP ranges as a JSON file and uses reverse DNS entries under crawl.commoncrawl.org, which allows a request to be verified. Common Crawl also offers an opt-out registry.
Example
User-agent: CCBot
Disallow: /
A delay instead of a block:
User-agent: CCBot
Crawl-delay: 2
Common mistakes
- Checking only the user agent. Common Crawl notes that crawlers falsely identify themselves as CCBot. Genuine requests can be checked against the IP list and reverse DNS.
FAQ
Is CCBot an AI crawler? CCBot collects content for a general archive. Developers of AI models can use such archives, but the crawler itself does not serve one model.
How can I tell a real CCBot? Check the request against the IP ranges Common Crawl publishes or the reverse DNS name. A user agent string alone can be faked.
Sources
- CCBot – Common Crawlcommoncrawl.org
- FAQ – Common Crawlcommoncrawl.org
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